EP1152493B1 - Card connector for receiving a PC card - Google Patents

Card connector for receiving a PC card Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1152493B1
EP1152493B1 EP01107686A EP01107686A EP1152493B1 EP 1152493 B1 EP1152493 B1 EP 1152493B1 EP 01107686 A EP01107686 A EP 01107686A EP 01107686 A EP01107686 A EP 01107686A EP 1152493 B1 EP1152493 B1 EP 1152493B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
terminals
card connector
card
connector section
grounding
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP01107686A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP1152493A2 (en
EP1152493A3 (en
Inventor
Toshihiro Niitsu
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Molex LLC
Original Assignee
Molex LLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Molex LLC filed Critical Molex LLC
Publication of EP1152493A2 publication Critical patent/EP1152493A2/en
Publication of EP1152493A3 publication Critical patent/EP1152493A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1152493B1 publication Critical patent/EP1152493B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/648—Protective earth or shield arrangements on coupling devices, e.g. anti-static shielding  
    • H01R13/658—High frequency shielding arrangements, e.g. against EMI [Electro-Magnetic Interference] or EMP [Electro-Magnetic Pulse]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
    • H01R12/70—Coupling devices
    • H01R12/71—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures
    • H01R12/712—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures co-operating with the surface of the printed circuit or with a coupling device exclusively provided on the surface of the printed circuit
    • H01R12/716—Coupling device provided on the PCB
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to electrical connectors and specifically to a card connector for receiving one or more PC cards.
  • a conventional card connector has pin terminal arrays and grounding terminals arranged in parallel and adapted to receive one or more PC or other memory cards.
  • the pin terminals are arranged in-line to mate with corresponding female receptacles of the cards which are correspondingly arranged in-line within the card (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-548198), and the grounding terminals are adapted to contact the conductive outer housing of the cards.
  • Such a card connector may be equipped with a card eject mechanism for removing the card or cards from the card connector.
  • the grounding terminals In such card connectors, the grounding terminals must be connected to the grounding circuit of a given circuit board on which the card connector is mounted.
  • the grounding terminals extend rearwardly from the a rear section of the terminals covering the tails of the pin terminals, and are connected to the grounding circuit of the circuit board via an extension of the ground terminal or an associated shield plate, as seen from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-54818.
  • US 5,688,130 shows a grounding system in an electrical connector assembly which provides an interconnection between a PC card and a printed circuit board.
  • the assembly includes a header connector subassembly having a body adapted for receiving a PC card.
  • a plurality of header terminals are mounted on the body, with pin portions of the terminals adapted for interconnection to receptacle contacts of the PC card.
  • a grounding shroud is disposed over the terminal and includes downwardly extending grounding terminal portions.
  • each grounding shroud includes an elongated plate portion extending lengthwise along body parts of header connector subassemblies.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide a card connector with a ground terminal rod whose size is reduced to a minimum.
  • a card connector for receiving two PC cards which has an insulating housing mounting two parallel lateral arrays of pin terminals adapted to mate with corresponding receptacles of the PC cards and two parallel grounding terminals extending above each array adapted to make contact with the outer casings of the cards.
  • the card connector further includes ground terminal rods vertically traversing the lateral arrays of pin terminals to connect the grounding terminals together, thus permitting all grounding terminals to be connected to the grounding circuit of a given circuit board via the connection terminal rods.
  • the grounding terminals are connected to the grounding circuit of a given printed circuit board via the ground terminal rods, thus eliminating the use of a relay circuit board, which, in known connectors, extends the size of the card connector on the rear side of the insulating housing. Accordingly the longitudinal size of the card connector of the present invention is reduced.
  • the card connector of the present invention further comprises a card connector section for accommodating the PC card and a substrate connector section to be connected to the card connector section.
  • the card connector section comprises an insulating housing mounting two lateral arrays of pin terminals and including two rearwardly extending alignment extensions having an L-shaped leg portion extending downwardly therefrom.
  • the pin terminals of both sets of lateral arrays are mounted in the insulating housing such that their "L"-shaped connection tails are arranged in a single row along the leg portion of the alignment extension of the housing.
  • the substrate connector section includes signal terminals for contacting the pin terminals when the two sections are connected, that is, connection tails of the pin terminals exposed on a rear side of the insulating housing of the card connector section make contact with engagement tails of the signal terminals on the front side of the insulating housing of the substrate connector section when the card connector section is connected to the substrate connector section.
  • the engagement tails of the signal terminals of the substrate connector section are configured such that each includes a "C"-shaped contact section for receiving a respective connection tail of the pin terminal of the card connector section along with an adjacent leg portion of the alignment extension.
  • the signal terminals of the substrate connector section and the pin terminals of the card connector section are confined within a reduced space, thereby further contributing to the reduction of the longitudinal size of the card connector.
  • a card connector 2 for accommodating a PC card 1 comprises a card connector section 3 and a substrate connector section 4 to be integrally connected thereto.
  • card connector section 3 includes an insulating housing 5 mounting two lateral arrays 7 of pin terminals 6 to be mated with corresponding receptacles of two mating PC cards 1 and two rows of grounding terminals 9 adapted to contact the outer casing of each card 1.
  • Insulating housing 5 includes two rearwardly extending alignment extensions 28 (corresponding to the two lateral arrays of terminals) having an L-shaped leg portion 29 extending downwardly therefrom.
  • Lateral arrays 7 of pin terminals 6 are arranged vertically parallel to one another in upper and lower spaced-apart levels, and each array includes upper and lower rows of pin terminals 6 to mate to each card.
  • Grounding terminals 9 are similarly arranged at two levels, so that each row of grounding terminals 9 extends above each upper row of pin terminals in each lateral array.
  • Pin terminals 6 of both sets of lateral arrays are mounted in insulating housing 5 such that their "L"- shaped connection tails 8 are aligned in a single row along the respective leg portion 29 of the alignment extension 28 on the rear side of insulating housing 5 (see Figure 2).
  • the spacing between these in-line connection tails 8 is half the distance of the interval between pin terminals 6.
  • Grounding terminals 9 extend above each upper row of pin terminals 6 and are aligned vertically to make contact with the outer surface of each PC casing when PC cards 1 are inserted into the card connector.
  • each ground terminal rod 10 (see Figure 10) are mounted in insulating housing 5, vertically traversing the pin-to-pin intervals of the upper and lower pin terminal arrays 7 to connect adjacent grounding terminals 9 together and connect all grounding terminals 9 to the grounding circuit of an underlying circuit board via ground terminal rods 10. As seen in Figures 3 and 9 through 11, each ground terminal rod 10 bridges two adjacent grounding terminals 9. Furthermore, as seen in Figure 8, each ground terminal rod 10 projects from a bottom 5a of insulating housing 5 to provide two grounding ends 10a.
  • each card eject mechanism 12 comprises an eject rod 13, a push rod 14 with a push-button at one end thereof, and an intervening gear 15 between eject rod 13 and push rod 14.
  • Eject rod 13 has a hook 18 at one end to catch and eject the front end of the respective PC card.
  • a rectangular metal shell 19 is mounted on an upper surface of insulating housing 5. At least one longitudinal sidewall of the rectangular shell has slots 11 which cooperate with longitudinal arm 5b of the housing to guide PC card 1, and rear wall 26 of rectangular shell 19 covers the rear side of substrate connector section 4. Insulating housing 5 has an opening 20 on its front side to accommodate insertion of the PC cards.
  • ground terminal rod 10 is mounted to insulating housing 5 in the direction indicated by arrow "A" and passes through both levels of grounding terminals 9.
  • grounding terminals 9 are fabricated by stamping and forming an elongated thin metal sheet. Each grounding terminal has an engagement aperture 9a offset relative to its longitudinal center axis to permit one leg of ground terminal rod 10 to pass therethrough. Engagement aperture 9a has two cantilever-like contacts 9b formed therein to contact ground terminal rod 10.
  • substrate connector section 4 includes signal terminals 22 and ground connection terminals 23 mounted in its generally "L"-shaped insulating housing 21.
  • One row of signal terminals 22 is inserted from the bottom of insulating housing 21 and extends along an upright wall 21 a of insulating housing 21.
  • the other row of signal terminals 22 is inserted from the bottom of insulating housing and is spaced vertically away from upright wall 21 a.
  • Signal terminals 22 are arranged at the same interval, i.e. have the same spacing, as connection tails 8 of pin terminals 6, and engagement tails 22a of signal terminals 22 extend to the front of the card connector.
  • signal terminals 22 have different heights to permit their engagement tails 22a to be located to contact the upper and lower connection tails of terminal arrays 7.
  • signal terminals 22 include solder tails 22b extending below a lower surface of insulating housing 21, one row of terminals 22 extends forward and the other row of terminals extends rearward from the lower surface of the housing.
  • engagement tails 22a of signal terminals 22 of substrate connector section 4 are configured such that each includes a generally "C"-shaped contact section for receiving a respective connection tail 8 of pin terminal 6 of the card connector section along with an adjacent leg portion 29 of the alignment extension 28.
  • each ground connection terminal 23 has two sections integrally connected by a central engagement piece 27, and these sections each have engagement apertures 24 to conform to and make contact with the two parallel legs of ground terminal rod 10.
  • Each engagement aperture 24 has a "U"-shaped cantilever-like contact 24a formed therein to contact one leg of the ground terminal rod.
  • Ground connection terminals 23 are fabricated by stamping and forming an elongated thin metal sheet. The ground connection terminals are mounted in housing 21 by inserting them into the horizontal wall of the housing 21.
  • Each ground connection terminal 23 has a solder tail 23a extending forward from a lower surface of insulating housing 21.
  • Horizontal wall 21b of insulating housing 21 includes through holes 25 to accommodate the ends of legs 10a of ground terminal rods 10.
  • Substrate connector section 4 thus constructed is connected to card connector section 3 to provide a card connector 2 with each engagement tail 22a of signal terminals 22 in contact with a corresponding connection tail 8 of a pin terminal 6, and with ground terminal rods 10 passing through adjacent upper and lower grounding terminals 9 and ground connection terminals 23.
  • Card connector 2 thus provided can be mounted on an underlying circuit board (not shown) by soldering solder tails 22b of signal terminals 22 to the signal conveying circuit conductors of the circuit board, and by soldering solder tails 23a of ground connection terminals 23 to the grounding circuit of the circuit board.
  • pin terminals 6 are connected to the signal conveying circuit of the circuit board via signal terminals 22 and grounding terminals 9 are connected to the grounding circuit of the circuit board via ground terminal rods 10 and ground connection terminals 23.
  • ground terminal rods 10 are connected to the grounding circuit of a given circuit board via ground connection terminals 23. That is to say, ground terminal rods 10 are connected to the grounding circuit of the circuit board at the bottom of insulating housing 5.
  • This arrangement makes it unnecessary to use a relay circuit board on the rear side of card connector 2, thus providing a substantial reduction in the longitudinal size of card connector 2, and permitting the mounting of additional electronic components on the circuit board in place of the relay circuit board and connector.
  • additional electronic components can be mounted adjacent insulating housing 5 on the circuit board to allow for increased density of component mounting on the circuit board.
  • connection tails 8 of pin terminals 6 of card connector section 3 and engagement tails 22a of signal terminals 22 of substrate connector section 2 make contact in a minimal space at the rear side of insulating housing 5 of card connector section 3 and the front side of insulating housing 21 of substrate connector section 4, thus contributing to the reduction of the longitudinal size of the card connector.
  • a card connector 102 has pin terminals 106 arranged in-line at one level, thus forming a single lateral array of pin terminals 106. More specifically, card connector section 103 has a single array of upper and lower rows of pin terminals 106 mounted in its insulating housing 105, and their connection tails 108 extend to the rear side of insulating housing 105. No ground terminals are used in this embodiment.
  • Signal terminals 122 are arranged at the same interval as connection tails 108 of pin terminals 106, and are mounted in insulating housing 121 of substrate connector section 104 with their engagement tails 122a extending from the front of insulating housing 121 and with their solder tails 122b extending forward along a lower surface of insulating housing 121.
  • pin terminals 106 and confronting signal terminals 122 again make contact in a minimal space, permitting the reduction of the longitudinal size of card connector 102. Also, solder tails 122b to be soldered to the signal conveying circuit of the circuit board remain within the area in which insulating housing 105 of card connector section 102 and insulating housing 121 of the substrate connector section are mated.

Landscapes

  • Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)
  • Details Of Connecting Devices For Male And Female Coupling (AREA)
EP01107686A 2000-03-28 2001-03-28 Card connector for receiving a PC card Expired - Lifetime EP1152493B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2000087870 2000-03-28
JP2000087870A JP2001283956A (ja) 2000-03-28 2000-03-28 カード用コネクタ

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1152493A2 EP1152493A2 (en) 2001-11-07
EP1152493A3 EP1152493A3 (en) 2002-03-06
EP1152493B1 true EP1152493B1 (en) 2006-05-31

Family

ID=18603819

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP01107686A Expired - Lifetime EP1152493B1 (en) 2000-03-28 2001-03-28 Card connector for receiving a PC card

Country Status (6)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1152493B1 (zh)
JP (1) JP2001283956A (zh)
KR (1) KR100414848B1 (zh)
CN (1) CN1206778C (zh)
DE (1) DE60120037T2 (zh)
TW (1) TW499076U (zh)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7445471B1 (en) * 2007-07-13 2008-11-04 3M Innovative Properties Company Electrical connector assembly with carrier
CN110401485B (zh) * 2017-04-06 2021-12-14 青岛海信宽带多媒体技术有限公司 一种光模块

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4818239A (en) * 1987-04-24 1989-04-04 Maxconn, Inc. Stacked multipin connectors
JP2827767B2 (ja) * 1992-11-20 1998-11-25 富士通株式会社 メモリカード用コネクタ
US5688130A (en) * 1996-04-10 1997-11-18 Molex Incorporated Electrical connector assembly for pc cards
JPH10255881A (ja) * 1997-03-07 1998-09-25 Molex Inc 信号端子とグランド端子を備えた電気コネクタ
MY123239A (en) * 1998-12-18 2006-05-31 Molex Inc Card-receiving connector with grounding terminal

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
KR100414848B1 (ko) 2004-01-13
CN1316806A (zh) 2001-10-10
EP1152493A2 (en) 2001-11-07
DE60120037T2 (de) 2006-12-21
CN1206778C (zh) 2005-06-15
KR20010093731A (ko) 2001-10-29
TW499076U (en) 2002-08-11
DE60120037D1 (de) 2006-07-06
JP2001283956A (ja) 2001-10-12
EP1152493A3 (en) 2002-03-06

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